Oman Across Ages Museum

Located in Nizwa, one of the oldest cities in Oman the design is inspired by the extraordinary landscape and geometric profiles of the Al Hajar Mountains and its canyons. The Oman Across Ages Museum is a celebration of the country’s rich history, culture, and economic growth through time while offering an insight into Oman’s tomorrow. The museum is a cultural and educational landmark for all Omanis and visitors. The sheer scale of the building as it rises out of the ground to the horizon is something to behold. It includes various galleries, a library, an auditorium, education, social and research spaces. The museum’s design uses the full panoply of architecture’s potential for expression and communication, including scale, geometry, form, light and vistas both as purely expressive devices and also to offer a wide range of possibilities for installations, displays and performances. As a cultural landmark the Museum transports visitors through the nation’s 800 million year history through a series of immersive, high-tech experiences. The building emerges from its earthern landscape plane as a series of angular, geometric volumes that sit in dialogue with the encompassing backdrop of the peaks and ridges of the Al Hajar Mountain range. In harmony with the architecture, the exhibition design celebrates Oman’s rich heritage from prehistory to modern day using the latest immersive technologies. It emerges elegantly from its unique landscape setting taking the visitor through a series of unfolding spatial sequences. From the outset the experience for the visitor is one of stepping into a place of immersion and sensory change. The building emerges from the very earth that it is embedded in. People are led and drawn through an array of spaces that progress from the raw beauty of the soil and rocks, to spaces of increasing volume, refinement and lightness. The museum takes the visitor on a vast, sweeping journey through time. It traces Oman from the first settlers of prehistory to the present, flying through different ages, dynasties and civilisations. Special importance is given on the nation’s modern renaissance since the 1970s, during which Oman has experienced remarkable economic, technological, political and social modernisation. The final revelation occurs in the Renaissance Gallery, a crystaline form which beckons from the outset of the journey. The Renaissance Gallery marks the culmination of this long national story. Importantly, the museum sits at a crossroads through time – it is a journey through Oman's past, a celebration of its present and an insight into its future. The Museum aims to spread awareness and strengthen the relationship of Omani youth with their cultural heritage. It encourages them to interact with their past in a way that inspires them to participate in the building and shaping the future of their homeland.